'Wish Ambulance' makes its 100th journey

Nettie called it "amazeballs" to be the 100th Wish patient

An initiative run by the Welsh Ambulance Service which helps patients at the end of their life has made its 100th journey.

The "Wish Ambulance" enables terminally ill patients across Wales to have a memory-making last journey to their favourite destination.

More than 500 off-duty ambulance workers give up their time to transport patients using non-emergency vehicles not in service that day.

Last week, volunteers transported Annette 'Nettie' Burtenshaw to City Hospice's Forever Flowers Celebration of Life event at Cardiff Castle, where the 64-year-old gave a rousing performance with her beloved Rock Choir.

Since its creation in 2019, it has transported patients and their loved ones to concerts, sporting events, birthday parties, cafes, museums and even to the beach.

One terminally ill man accompanied his daughter down the aisle just six days before he died, while one woman watched her teenage son play football for the final time.

Nettie, from Penarth, was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2021, and later bone cancer. She said it was "amazeballs" to be the 100th Wish patient.

"I can't put into words how much it meant to perform again with the choir, and the look on their faces when I turned up and surprised them in my uniform, and with my flag," she said.

Ed O'Brian, Clinical Lead for Palliative and End of Life Care at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said reaching the 100th Wish Ambulance journey was a "special moment" for the team.

"It's a powerful reminder of what kindness, teamwork and compassion can achieve," he added.